I'm trying to figure out the best way to attach the wood panels to the sides of my hull. You can see that the bracing only goes half way up the sides of the boat. My current plan is to use SS screws and screw through the wood and into these braces along the bottom half of the wood. However, I want to also secure the wood up close along the gunwales because my plan is to end up building supports that tie together the floor and sidewalls to make up for the loss of the center seat. I was thinking I could use 1/2" SS screws and screw from the outside up near the gunwales and through the aluminum and into the wood. Alternatively, I could use SS 1/4 bolts and through bolt the wood along the gunwales. I'm sure the bolts would be a lot stronger, but they wont look as clean once the carpet is installed. Do you guys think that using screws from the outside of the boat near the gunwales and also screws into the bracing from inside the boat would be strong enough to hold these wood panels or would you go with the bolt option?
Thanks
Thanks